Thursday, April 11, 2013

Here's an industry that some Missouri Republicans actually do want to regulate.

Tanning salons.

That's right! Missouri lawmakers are pushing forward with a proposal that would place some restrictions on the use of tanning machines by children. House Bill 47, which is one step away from moving to the Senate, mandates that anyone under the age of eighteen must have written consent from their parents before they can use a tanning device.

And if salons don't comply?

As written, the proposal from Republican representative Gary Cross, says:

Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of fifty dollars. Any tanning facility that violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a fine of five hundred dollars for each violation.

The bill stipulates that the state would come up with a uniform form that parents or guardians would have to sign giving permission -- and the legislation says they would have to show up in person to the tanning facility to give their approval.

The bill was perfected this week and requires one more vote to get out of the House at which point it would head to the Senate.

Daily RFT left a message with Cross' office and will update if we hear back. Proponents of this measure have pointed to the risks of skin cancer associated with exposure to ultraviolet rays from tanning machines.

But, as the Associated Press noted in its recent coverage, not everyone agrees that it's an appropriate restriction.

Some of his GOP colleagues, the report says, "criticized it as an expansion of government regulation."

In New Jersey, where a mother was famously arrested for her five-year-old's alleged tanning bed sunburn, the governor recently signed a bill banning youth from commercial tanning facilities altogether.